Anarchy in Iceland? The global left, pirates and socialists in post-crash Icelandic politics. Issue 5 (3rd July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ómarsdóttir, Silja Bára; Valgarðsson, Viktor Orri
• Is Part Of: Globalizations. Volume 17:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 840
• Page End: 853
• Publication Date: 2020-07-03
• Subjects: Iceland -- Left Green Movement -- Pirate party -- anarchism -- socialism -- global left; Globalization -- Periodicals; 327.17
• DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2020.1722496
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1474-7731

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The historically stable Icelandic political party system has been uprooted since the 2008 financial crisis. In this paper, we explore to what extent the global left movement of anarchists and socialists has manifested in Icelandic politics in this period. We provide a historical overview, starting with the 2008 financial crisis which brought to power the first entirely left-wing government in the country's history, but also gave birth to numerous new political parties that alternately united and divided socialists, anarchists and reformers. The Pirate Party spearheaded this movement from the 2013 elections, but internal disputes have plagued the party in recent years, and both they and the Left Greens now have a fresh challenge from the left: the Socialist Party. We conclude that the current prospects for a united uprising of these movements are dim, although history suggests that they can work together when focusing on common goals of political reform.